Fairy Tail Zoo
by The Infamous Smile of MonaLisa
Summary: Natsu Dragneel, co-owner of Fairy Tail Zoo, a research facility for rare creatures of all sorts, must learn how to keep up with a creature that seems to be just as stubborn, violent and rare as himself, for he is a half dragon, the supposed rarest of all. But his newest challenge? Lucy Heartfilia, a rare dimidum. Will these two be able to stay close or will cultures tear them apart
1. Chapter 1

"Dammit, Gray! We've been out here all day and _nothing new_ has come out yet," an armed, pink-haired man snarled to his raven-haired partner who merely rolled his eyes, but he has to admit that his boss was right. They had been out since dawn that morning, hoping to get a new piece for the famous Fairy Tail Zoo, a zoo for the rarest of creatures, ones that were revived from death or thought to have dies out hundreds of years ago. The zoo itself was almost never open to the public, but the private customers who visited did so in order to approve funding to the company's research facilities of the strange creatures. The zoo's reputation was always very high, especially amongst mages, but it became much more private when the Dragneel family, a family of half-dragons, made a partnership with the eldest member of the Dreyar family and started to take better care and do more research on the magic of these animals instead of just showing them off. Despite the fact that it was an even partnership, Natsu Dragneel had mostly relinquished all business decisions that didn't concern the placement or welfare of his animals or employees over to Makarov Dreyar, who, with the backing of the Dragneels, now had enough supplies to make the zoo one of the seven wonders of the world (if they would ever _count us!_).

Gray sighed, rubbing his temples with one hand while gripping his tranquillizer gun loosely in his other. "I know, I know! But we have to get _something!_ We did promise new material to the Blue Pegasus Corp." Natsu muttered a few curse words under his breath as he stumbled into a new clearing. Gray, hearing sudden silence from his partner and fearing that he had shot himself with the sedative gun _again_, called out to him, following his footsteps carefully. "Natsu! Oi, Flame-Bra-Mphh!" A warm hand slapped over Gray's mouth.

"Shh!" Natsu hissed, a nervously excited tone coloring his previously annoyed voice. "Don't talk, don't move. Just _look!_" Natsu pointed over to the stream only a few feet away from the other edge of the clearing and Gray felt his mouth drop open. Gray vaguely realized that Natsu had let go of his as he leaned forward in the thinning brush, hoping to get a better look at the small animal. The yellowish-white, cat-like cub, not too small, but obviously not fully grown as she only went up to about Natsu's knee. Despite the fact that she was leaning over the lake, laying on her stomach and pawing playfully, Gray could clearly see the bright red star in the center of her forehead and the continuation of such design all down her back, wrapping around her tail and coloring the tip the same bright red.

Unable to stop themselves, Gray and Natsu began to creep closer to the small fledgling, attempting to be as silent as possible in their steps, although they did notice that the little thing was rather deeply absorbed in her playing. When they were only a few feet away from it, the duo sat down, keeping well-trained eyes on their surroundings as well as their new target.

"Any idea on what it is? I've never seen anything like it," Natsu muttered in wonder, opening his pack next to him and shuffling around quietly as Gray took out his phone. "Call Erza."

"Already on it- Hey Erza! I just sent you a picture- yeah, that one. Can you tell me what it is?" Gray hummed into his phone softly, holding back a laugh as the cub nearly fell into the water. He had to admit that he was surprised at this animal's lack of awareness. Usually, wild, rare animals had highly acute senses, but this one seemed content in his or her own little world. Just then, Gray heard his other partner's voice ringing in his ears.

_"Gray! Are you still there? Are you okay?" _Erza called, sounding unnaturally panicked.

Gray chuckled softly. "Yeah, we're fine. This little thing's just too damn cute-"

_"Gray, get you and Natsu back _now_! That's a female dimidum!" _Gray stayed silent and Erza sighed on the other end, realizing that he had no clue what that was. _"They travel in packs! Females are guarded continuously as they are pack leaders. The few males there have been recorded about are known to be vicious, especially in animal form!"_

Gray whispered a hurried agreement and turned toward his boss, already fumbling for his gun. He reached for Natsu, vaguely registering the fact that he was eating and watching the girl with an amused smile. Gray nearly stopped himself, having not seen such a kind smile on the 21 year-old's face in quite a few years, but as soon as his hand grasped his boss's arm, his other hand came in contact with the floor and a small _crunch_ was heard. Both boys froze as the cub's ears and nose twitched for a moment before it slowly stood, stretched, and turned, blinking wide, down doe-eyes at the two in interest.

"We have to get out of here, man," Gray whispered, still rooted in his spot as the other two locked eyes. "This is the female, but the males are going to be here soon. They're vicious and won't go down without a fight-"

"I want her," Natsu murmured, slipping his hand from Gray's grasp rather easily and reaching into the bag at his feet. There, he pulled out a grape, splitting it in half before slowly, ever so slowly, reaching his hand outwards, stopping only when his hand was fully extended. Gray looked around him for a moment, but sensed no motion and returned his attention to the little girl. He knew it was pointless to try and stop Natsu: once he wanted something, he would keep going until he had it, and if they argued now, the cub would run and Natsu would just chase after it.

The cub sniffed loudly, a tiny, pink tongue slipping out to run along its lips. _C-cu-cute~_ the boys inwardly stuttered, watching as she slowly stepped forward, eyes darting from the food to the boys nervously, then around to the surroundings. When she deemed it safe, she stumbled a few more steps forward, stopping again when she was within Natsu's reach.

Gray was rather surprised that Natsu didn't make a grab for her as she began to sniff around his hand curiously. In many of their past expeditions, once the animal was subdued or in range, Natsu or one of the others would immediately bag in and take off, not wanting to risk it getting away, but now, it seemed as though Natsu was actually having _fun_ with this! Gray held back a laugh as the little cub's nose twitched slightly and she took a step back, eyeing the food warily. Natsu sighed and pulled his hand away again, only to bring it back out with a tiny piece of beef jerky. The cub's eyes lit up and she immediately pounced onto him, knocking him backward and grasping the meat in her sharp teeth. Gray reached for the cub, hoping that she hadn't hurt his boss (though he'd never tell _him_ that), but Natsu just chuckled.

"O-oi! Ice-pric-princess! It- it _tickles!_" Natsu howled with laughter as the cat-like animal pawed at him, trying to get more meat. It meowed softly and the high-pitched whine drew Natsu out of his hysterics. "You want more?" Natsu cooed, sitting up slowly. The cub's eyes grew wide once more, backing off of Natsu's chest and sitting obediently next to him, excitedly waiting for the next little meal.

Gray went to say something about Natsu being a pansy when a low snarl from behind the two forced them to stand up, Natsu quickly grabbing the confused and frightened cub protectively into his arms. "Told you so," Gray muttered as he watched to two larger versions of the cub in front of them warily. The one on the right was pure black, obviously meant to blend into the night while the one to the left was yellow, a small, dull yellow scar crossing over his right eye. Both came easily up to Gray and Natsu's hips. Gray's hand slowly reached down to the gun, but another growl made him freeze. The black one's eyes were locked in on Gray's hand, watching him very carefully. The muscles on both of the large cats rolled menacingly as they clashed their teeth loudly. "Put her down, Natsu, and they might leave us alone."

Natsu shook his head quickly, glancing down at the rather cutely worried face of his new friend. Her nose twitched again and her forehead scrunched, obviously unhappy with the situation. "I'm not letting her go. I want her and she's obviously okay with me, not to mention that she's hungry. I can obviously take better care of her than these mutts-"

Yet another growl cut him off, this time, from the blonde one. Natsu's grip tightened on the little fur ball in his arms, making her squirm. The small move did not go unnoticed by the older blonde whose eyes narrowed for a split second before he dashed forward, one claw reaching to slash at Natsu's cheek while the other shoved him backwards from his chest. It all happened so quick that neither boy really noticed until they heard the painful whimper coming from the scarred one's jaw. From his mouth, being clutched by the back of her neck, hung the star-studded cub.

Natsu snarled, evidently unhappy with being caught off guard and sliced, not to mention having his new prize ripped from his grip, _literally!_ Steam began to flare up on the now-dying grass around him as Natsu stood, glaring down at the two larger animals. Gray once again went for his gun, but the living shadow stepped forward, a clear warning not to move. "Natsu, let it go. They're not handing her over any time soon." Natsu narrowed his eyes, but made no move to answer.

There was utter silence for a few moments before Natsu smirked. "The older ones understand us just fine, Gray. They've lived around civilization. The younger one hasn't." The black one's eyes sparkled in amusement as they flashed to the golden ones, but that split second was plenty of time for Gray to snag his gun, shooting quickly at both of the older ones, forcing the yellow one to drop Natsu's newest reward. She hit the ground with a small thump, but before Natsu could grasp her, she turned and began pawing nervously at her older friends, using her teeth to remove the darts from both of them. She went and began to nudge the two, earning a small growl from the black one, but it didn't seem the slightest bit threatening as he nudged her back. The little one's worry quickly disappeared, looking up at Natsu with slight anger.

He sighed, almost as though he understood and plopped down onto the ground. "Pinky!" Gray hissed, beginning to drag Natsu towards where they came from. It was going to start getting dark soon and they needed to get to the car before they got lost. "We are leaving. She obviously doesn't want to leave the-"

Gray stopped dragging the boy when he heard laughing and turned around, barely stifling laughter of his own. Amused, dark blue eyes met frustrated brown ones as the little thing latched its teeth onto Natsu's baggy white pants, dragging backwards in an attempt to keep him in place. "And it looks like she doesn't want me to leave," Natsu smirked over his shoulder. Gray rolled his eyes as Natsu opened his arms, waiting for the cub to come to him, surprising the raven-haired mage and business partner once more at the extreme kindness. The cub stepped forward once, but turned around nervously to see her two friends getting up slowly and staggering back down. "They'll be okay, I promise. Will you come with me, please?"

The whitish cub let out a happy _meow_ and pounced on Natsu, curling into his warm chest as he stood, beginning to follow Gray back to the car. Gray took out his phone as they climbed into the vehicle, attaching it to the car's phone as he began to drive on a semi-hidden path back to their home, the Fairy Tail Zoo's main facility.

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**Hey, it's a strange story sort of and the plot line will be less rushed later, but I really wanted to get this out there. More details about each character will be put out in later chapters, but I needed to put this out. For those of you who read Lucy Begins Again, it is not cancelled or anything, I'm just in a minor writers block for that story, but I'm almost done with the next chapter, so don't worry. For those of you who have The Clans, that is on pause for the moment in order for me to continue with school, this story, LBA, and my new one-shots collection that I'll be putting out soon that will be all one shots, but if like enough, will become full-blown stories.**

**I hope you like! PM me if you have pressing, give-away questions! And please don't forget to review. Oh, and I ****_always_**** forget to mention this, but please keep in mind that I, in fact, do not own Fairy Tail...*Dammit!***

**~The Infamous Smile of Mona Lisa**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Gray! How are you and Natsu? Did you guys get away okay? It's been a while since you called and-"_

Mira, who for some reason had Erza's phone, was cut off by Natsu's loud laughter. "We got a new little girl, Mira!" He laughed again as the blonde in his arms watched around them in wonder, pawing the car's dashboard and mashing different keys excitedly. "I've gotta tell ya', she's the cutest thing I've ever seen! I can't wait for you guys to meet her! We should be back soon if we use back routes- pffttt!" Natsu howled again, clutching his stomach in happiness as the cub's paw hit the air conditioner and was immediately awarded with a blast of cool air to the face. The cub jumped back into Natsu's chest and growled, but the noise had no threatening nature in it at all. To calm the cub, Natsu began to scratch her back softly. A soft purr began to roll up from her chest as she lay on Natsu's lap.

"Mira, as much as Flame-brain here pisses me off," Gray scoffed, watching the scene from the corner of his eye as he drove. "He's got a point. Hey, can you give me to Erza? She said something earlier that's been bothering me for a while now…"

_"Yeah, hold on. She's working with the new mermaid right now-"_

"Please don't mention her!" Gray shuddered as he recalled the first meeting with the half-fish woman. It seemed as though she was fine as long as she stayed on land, but the moment she touched any water, even if it was just condensation on the side of the glass, she would immediately sprout gills and a tail. With such restrictions, she had been forced to wonder alone because her kingdom had banished her for…well, she never did say, but each person or creature there had their own story that it would take a while before they were okay sharing. She had come to the Fairy Tail Zoo willingly, saying that she would rather people marvel at her than have to hide away in the dirty corners of civilization. Of course, that didn't mean that she had any excuse to cling on to him, claim him as hers, and call him 'Gray-sama'…just not cool…at all.

_"Gray? Hello?" _When Gray didn't answer, Natsu smacked his shoulder. The car jolted violently and the cub yelped angrily, her eyes flicking between the two idiots.

"Yeah, Erza. It's me. Hey, earlier today, you said that the males were particularly vicious in their 'animal forms'. What exactly did you mean by that?"

The other line was quiet for a few minutes before Erza sighed. _"You said that you picked up the female, right?" _Gray confirmed it. _"Well get back soon and you'll see for yourself. How far away are you?" _Gray checked the GPS.

"About five minutes from the compound gates. Can you open them up for us?" Erza agreed and hung up. Gray took a moment to look over at Natsu and the cub, smirking when he saw Natsu trying to get her into the carrier. He watched out of the corner of his eye as his boss put in a piece of beef jerky and the stars on the cub's back twitched with a roll of her muscles as she fought the urge to lunge after the meat, choosing to, instead, glare up at the half-dragon in front of her. He motioned for her to go in again and Gray swore that the cat raised an eyebrow at Natsu. The cat made a noise similar to that of a snort and looked away as though she was almost mocking him.

Natsu frowned and Gray chuckled loudly. "Dude, you're getting told off by a _cat!_" Getting rather angry by Gray's teasing, Natsu's heat began to automatically rise, seeming to forget the tiny animal on his lap for the moment. Natsu looked down and picked up the animal by the neck, much as the bright yellow cat from earlier had done, but a pained yelp brought him back to his more humane senses. He quickly lowered his temperature back down and stroked the cat's soft fur apologetically.

"Sorry, kitty," He muttered and Gray sighed.

"You're no fun if you're not going to fight back."

Natsu chuckled slightly. "Sorry, but I want to know what Erza was talking about when she was talking about the animal forms. She made it sound like this little girl might have another form and I gotta admit, I'm curious."

_No, when Natsu asked her to come with us, she seemed to understand perfectly. Maybe it was the hand movements? No, no. She had also understood him when he told her what he did to her friends... Dammit, what is she?_ Gray's thoughts were disrupted by the creaking of the gate's heavy metal doors. He would have to remember to oil those later so guests wouldn't think they didn't keep everything in tip-top shape.

Natsu noticed a sudden shifting on his lap again and watched as the star-studded cat shrunk back in fear of the looming facilities. Natsu, unsure of how to make her feel ok, began scratching her back again, but she only shivered away from him, glancing at him suspiciously. He sighed, seeing that the prim, white tower was clearly terrifying the primitive youngster. "I promise, you'll like it here. I run the place, so I'll make sure you have whatever you want, okay?" Her eyes slowly crept over to the crate and Natsu sighed, holding back a growl as Gray chuckled. "Okay, okay, you can walk in by yourself. No crate, I promise." That seemed to satisfy her as she sat back down, rubbing her cheek against Natsu's chest in thanks.

Said dragon chuckled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly as the car pulled to a stop. "Come on guys," Gray hollered as he hopped from the jeep. "Mira and the others are meeting us in the new room they have set up for her. Fourth floor, seventh on the right if I remember correctly." Natsu nodded, opening the car door for the cub to step out, watching as she pawed angrily at the paved ground after a few steps. Gray seemed to have seen it as well because he carefully picked her up, ignoring her yelp and flipped her on her back in his arms, cradling her belly up like a child. When she began to squirm, Gray sighed and looked at his partner who quickly moved over next to him, stroking her head to calm her down. "Natsu, check her paws. Do they have claws?"

Carefully, as to not get scratched, Natsu flipped the fur that covered her paws only to see sharp, razor-like claws peeking out from the padding of her paw. "Yeah, and it's a miracle she hasn't scratched me yet."

Gray chuckled and handed Natsu the now calm cat. Despite being up to Natsu's knee when standing, she seemed very small in a man's arms. "Keep her off the pavement until she retracts them or we get them file-" A strong his made him rethink that idea. "Okay, okay, just when you retract them. No filing!" The cub seemed okay with that and snuggled back into Natsu's chest. "Let's get going before I get my eyes clawed out, please."

As the group walked into the main facility, men and women in white lab coats passed by, throwing friendly smiles and greetings as well as curious glances and coos to the newest member who, in turn, covered her face with her paws, making Natsu cackle in laughter and officially deem her a weirdo. Once they were far enough in where the people were few and the carpet padding was thick, Natsu set the blond down, watching as she checked her footing a few times before prancing ahead of them as though she owned the place.

Gray and Natsu exchanged bewildered glances before running down the hall after her. "He-hey! What the hell?" Gray called, waving at the cat that had stopped in front of a door.

"We bring you home with us and you just walk away? What kind of courtesy is that?" Natsu hissed, glaring in mock-anger at the cat that let out a noise that sounded suspiciously close to being a chuckle. Unable to keep mad at the small cat, Natsu sighed and knocked on the door, rolling his eyes when he heard loud squealing and shushing on the other side of the door. "Guys, hurry up! I want to know what Erza meant!"

Gray rolled his eyes and nearly knocked on the door again, but the moment his knuckles came in contact with it, the door swung open rather violently, showing a fair amount of Fairy Tail's workers and the more stable animals in there. Natsu smiled and bounded in, hollering familiar greetings to his workers before being knocked backwards by a flying ball of blue.

"Natsu~! Why'd you leave me? I had to _walk_ and _fly_ everywhere on my own!" Happy, Natsu's best friend and blue exceed, called, wrapping his paws around Natsu. Natsu just laughed, scratching Happy's head for a moment before attempting to sit up, but Happy kept him down and began to relay everything that had happened to him since Natsu had left that morning, but the update was cut short as Happy squealed and hopped backwards, unfurling his wings and jumping into the air, avoiding the new cub's merciless claws by a millimeter.

The whole room silence quickly as they watched the terrified blue neko hover a few feet above the star-studded cat, both watch the other with rivalry clear in their eyes. Happy went to move towards Natsu, maybe knock the other cat off as he did, but the female seemed to see this coming and hissed at him, opening her mouth slightly and baring her teeth. Happy stopped moving and froze, having never seen an animal such as this. He wasn't exactly sure how to handle fighting over his best friend with some strange cat…

Mira's light-hearted giggle from the corner caught everyone's attention, even the small cat. "Oh, dear," she smiled warmly at the kitten who suddenly found herself feeling guilty. "It seems as though she's taken a liking to Natsu! Eeep! New couple!" The white-haired demon began jumping around and a few of the other members such as Levy and Erza could have sworn that they had seen the rare cat _blush_!

The boys on the other hand couldn't care less. In fact, the only reason they were in the new room was because Erza had announced a very exciting and dangerous new find, but refused to give them any other details. So the boys came in search of satisfying their curiosity and possibly battling the new 'find', but if this little kitten was it, than some of them were going to have to talk to Erza about redefining dangerous…

Natsu sat up slowly, wrapping his arms around the sub's stomach and turning her so she faced him as he folded his legs to be crisscrossed. He placed her in his lap with his hands on either side of her face, forcing her attention on him. "You can't be mad at Happy-" The cub _meow-_ed angrily in protest, causing a few of the room's members to chuckle happily, watching as the almighty Salamander furrowed his brows at the tiny fur ball in his hands. The two stared each other down before there was a slight rumbling heard and the fledgling's eyes widened in embarrassment. Some, like Jet and Droy, two creatures of Fairy Tail, chuckled behind their hands while others, like Macao and Wakaba snorted rather loudly, causing the faint red to appear on the cat's cheeks again.

Gray, without having to be asked, handed Natsu his bag from earlier, snickering when Natsu fumbled blindly for the jerky, but the effort paid off. The moment the meat was in the air, the cat's tail began to swish back and forth playfully and she backed up from his lap, watching his hands with predator-like eyes. She crouched down, following the food as Natsu waved it playfully back and forth. Her tiny pink tongue parted out, licking her lips and nose and she crouched down slightly further, only to bound upwards without warning and, with one clean stroke, snagged the food from Natsu's grasp. The whole run was filled with soft laughter as they watched her sniff at it for a moment, taking a small bite, testing it, then devouring the rest nearly whole. As the others began to socialize again, some saying their goodbyes and heading back to their own rooms, the feline began shaking her head from side to side, nose twitching as she did so. Gray, Natsu, Mira, Levy, and Erza, the five that had moved within a few feet of her, watched in amusement as she suddenly stopped before sneezing rather violently for her small size, knocking herself backwards and into a sitting position, frowning as she did.

The Levy and Mira squealed and echoed a loud, "_Cute~!_" The others in the room began to laugh as well. The cat, much to her embarrassment, found herself curling into Natsu's waist, hiding her face in the comforting heat that seemed to radiate consistently from him. It reminded her of her friends back in the pack…

"Natsu," Erza Scarlet, a mage of weapons herself, having been with Dreyar and the zoo since she had first realized that she held magical powers in her veins at the age of seven, attracted the attention of the room once more. "Please take her off your chest and back away. You too, Happy." Natsu did as he was told, barely managing not to cave in to the small, desperate whimper of his new kitten. The moment they had backed away, Happy clutched on to Natsu, earning his a small hiss from his new opponent, but the cub did not move as she saw Erza stare out the window. "It's nearly sundown. She's going to need the space if she's going to shift…" Erza turned back to said creature who nodded once in agreement, only having time to do so before she began to glow bright white.

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**Hey Everyone, sorry I've been behind on updating my stories, just been really busy lately. I'm trying to get LBA's next chapter done soon! Just for everyone to know, this story is rated M for a reason, so there will be some sexual and intense situations, but Natsu and Lucy are both extremely innocent for a long time, not to mention oblivious to some of the things they are both feeling, so...yeah...**

**~the Infamous Smiles of Mona Lisa**


	3. Chapter 3

**Usually I don't do beginning notes and hold off to the end, but I just want to make something clear: this story will have lemon and dirty thoughts later on, but for now, both are very innocent. Lucy's innocent because she's spent little time with anyone outside of her pack (who you will learn more about later because it is more than just Sting and Rogue) and Natsu is innocent because he's not really pervy. He ****_is_**** a flirt though, but he knows better than to flirt with someone as clueless as Lucy...for now anyways... XD**

**OH! and MAJOR SPECIAL THANKS TO YORUMIHARU AND IYRGIRL FOR THEIR HELP :))))))**

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Immediately, Natsu began to jump forwards, reaching out to grasp the cat who he had become oddly attached to over the past few hours, but Gray and Elfman quickly grasped his arms, holding him back as the glow became brighter. "Hey, are you okay?" Natsu began calling when the glow became too bright to stare in to anymore. He heard a soft mewling noise from within, but Gray and Elfman kept a tight grip on him. The noise slowly began to turn into panting, becoming louder and louder by the second before a loud cry was heard.

Many men around the room stiffened at the cry, but Natsu wouldn't help but be curious. The sound had not been one of pain or anguish, but one of…joy? Happiness? For some reason, it brought the ever-lasting pool of magma in his stomach to boil much hotter than ever before…

His thoughts were cut short as the smoke began to clear and he had to force himself to keep from drooling. Only a few feet in front of him stood where his small kitten had been moments before. In her human form, the kitten had thick golden hair that fell slightly past her shoulders and over her furry, golden, cat-like ears, down to the center of her back, large doe-like brown eyes, and smooth, pink lips. Her porcelain, tight skin was barely concealed beneath a small, double-sided red loin cloth had two small sheets covering her most intimate front and back, but allowing her strangely enticing hips to be seen. Her ample chest was covered in a sown, bikini-like top, though it too barely covered more than the center of each breast. When she turned slightly, glancing around the room, Natsu noticed that the red tattoos had stayed, going from her neck, down her smooth back and ending at her right hip, but it was slightly hidden by the dirt that coated over her body. She licked her lips nervously and Natsu immediately found amusement in the fact that her cute, pink little tongue had stayed.

As Gray and Elfman's grips loosened, Natsu fell to his knees in front of the goddess-like woman. He vaguely noticed how many men were either passed out on the floor from blood loss already or grasping their nose tightly to keep it in, but his eyes were mostly focused on _her_. She checked around her biting her lip nervously and rubbing her thighs together, something that Natsu noticed, when done, released a rather delicious scent. He saw a few others lose control of themselves and pass-out as well, but he ignored them, instead, choosing to watch the treasure in front of him. Her energetic coffee-like eyes locked with his and her eyebrows furrowed, an utterly adorable pout coming to her plump lips. "N-name..." the goddess whispered, her voice ringing like wonderful bells, carrying a pleasant tune made only for Natsu... Or, at least that's what he'd like to think. "Name... Name not 'Kitty'. Name L-Lucy." She stuttered hesitantly for a moment before nodding in confidence, as though confirming it once more.

She glanced around the room once more, shifting nervously again before looking back to Natsu, brown boring into black. A faint pink tainted both of their cheeks as they continued to stare for a few moments before Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, eyes settling a bit off to the side of his eyes, on his cheek. "Hurt..." she whimpered, watching Natsu with guilty eyes. Before he could say anything else, Lucy was in front of him, on her knees in order to match his kneeling height, a hand reaching forward to cup his face.

It took a moment for everyone to catch the movement, but before Lucy could clarify her action, her arms were bound behind her back by twisted metal and she was held to the floor with vines that wrapped around her smooth thighs and back. Multiple people, creatures and mages alike, had their hands aimed at her, poised to attack with various and deadly magics, when Lucy's pained and frustrated hiss made Natsu finally realized what was happening.

"Stop! She wasn't going to hurt me! Back off!" The room stayed still for a few moments before everyone began to slowly lower their arms. Natsu waited for another moment before realizing that the two main culprits had yet to release the still hissing girl. "Droy, Gajeel, release her please." The vine bindings around her legs and chest began to slip away from Lucy, dragging a bit along her skin and causing her to wince as they moved back to the black-haired creature, but the metal stayed. "Gajeel-"

"Look, I don't know about you all," Gajeel sneered from the corner behind a certain blue-haired Solid-Script Mage, ignoring the deadly glare he was receiving from her. "But Erza said she is dangerous. I don't care if she's in human or cat form, but she's not touching anyone until she's been evaluated."

"Dammit, Gajeel!" Gray hissed, obviously unhappy with the turn of events. Attacking a new creature, especially one as timid as this, usually lead to distrust and problems. From what he could see, Lucy was starting to get suspicious and angry, and if this kept up, she'd probably make a run for it. "Get those damned bars off of her! You remember what you felt like when we had to put you is a cage?" the Iron Dragon visibly winced, remembering when he had lost control once before, before he had come to Fairy Tail to work under his cousin. "Exactly. Now let her go. She's been with us all day and hasn't attacked once."

"But those scratches-"

"Tri-tried to help," Lucy pouted, looking at Natsu's cheek with regretful eyes. Slowly, the metal began to seep off of her, disappearing into the ground, but she stayed slumped over on the floor, continuing to watch Natsu sadly.

Sighing, the Fire Dragon began signaling people to leave, much to Mira's chagrin, leaving only Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Levy, and Natsu in the room with an officially depressed Lucy. "You said you could help him, right?" Erza asked, taking a step towards the frail girl. Her head snapped up in surprise, nodding quickly at the red head. "Well, go ahead. We're trusting you not to hurt our nakama." With wide, excited eyes, Lucy jumped to her feet, stumbling for a moment on raw limbs before running up to Natsu. As she saw the scratches on his cheek, ones that conveniently hid his blush, she frowned, knowing that if this didn't work than he would have those four claw marks as permanent scars.

"Sting..." She murmured, brushing the dried blood softly with her left hand.

Natsu barely held back a shiver at the touch, but was more focused on what she had said. "Sting? No, no! It doesn't hurt! I promise!" Lucy's lips tugged up at the sides, showing the ghost of a smile as Natsu grasped her hands, making sure she stayed where she was. Natsu felt a comforting heat coming off of her, something he had never felt as he was a Fire Dragon and never felt any sort of _heat _coming from anyone else. Lucy shook her head slightly, pulling Natsu away from his inner thoughts.

"No, Sting. My pro-prote-" she frowned deeply again, unable to get the foreign word of her tongue.

Levy piped up from the side. "Protector?" Lucy's eyes went wide and she turned to beam brightly over at Levy who stuttered for a moment before smiling back. The others couldn't help but notice the slightly-longer state of her dagger-like canines, ones that seemed to be a similar, but smaller version of Natsu's own.

"Yes, th- thank you," Lucy bowed to Levy before turning her attention back to Natsu's cheek.

She frowned again, examining it for a mere second before grasping her right hand with her left and plunging her cat-like claws into her own soft skin. The others began to move forwards, Gajeel and Erza planning on separating them and Levy and Gray trying to get Lucy to stop hurting herself, but Natsu moved faster than everyone else. "Lucy!" He yelled in surprise, grabbing her hands and forcing them apart.

As he began examining the wound, Lucy shook her head, taking her unharmed hand from his grip and bringing his face forward to hers. She pressed her cheek against Natsu's bloody one, whispering, "Be still," in his ear as he felt something wet touch the scar. Natsu held still, despite wanting to know exactly what she saw doing.

He only had to wait a few moments before the blonde pulled away, wiping her tear-stricken eyes and smiling as Natsu gingerly touched his cheek. There, he found no dried blood or deep scratches, but just wet, healed skin. "How did you-"

"The tears," Levy murmured in amazement. "It's said that the females have certain healing abilities along with separate magic, something the males have as well, but no one has ever lived to see if happen in real life. There have only been theories in the past, but never this." Lucy nodded, smiling shyly through drying tears. Lucy examined her, noticing how blood continued to leak from her dirt-encrusted wrist and the slight wince she gave each time it brushed her side. "Can't you heal yourself?"

Lucy's eyes widened and she shook her head violently. "No! S-sin to he-heal oneself!" The others quirked their head to the side in confusion. "Tears used for o-others. Se-selfish to fix my-myself!" Natsu sighed as he grasped Lucy's arm, carefully of the bloody openings, and began examining it, smiling reassuringly at her when he noticed that it wasn't very deep.

Erza watched Lucy curiously. From what she's heard, Lucy willingly went from her protector's side to come with a man she didn't even know, and as far as she's seen, Lucy had spent little time in society and seemed to have no notice of the scarcity of her clothing or just how filthy she was. The red-head decided that she had faith in the girl, that she could trust her for now, at least, but knew that she would need to for Lucy to prove herself at some point soon…

"Hey, Lucy?" Levy called, gaining the blonde's attention away from Natsu's stare. She noticed that Natsu's face turned down into a bit of a frown but decided that she'd tease him on that tomorrow. "Not to be rude, but when's the last time you bathed?" she asked, as though she had been reading Erza's thoughts.

The others glanced at Levy and then back at Lucy, smiling a bit when they saw the blank look on Lucy's face. Natsu leaned forward and sniffed her, noting how she didn't seem to smell _bad_ at all. In fact, she smelt slightly of vanilla and woods, something Natsu felt could become rather addicting if he kept sniffing her this way, so he backed off. "A few da-days. Sting, Rogue, me, abo-about to bathe in la-lake tonight-"

"You bathe with boys?" Erza gasped, appalled at the idea, despite the fact that she used to do so with Gray and Natsu when they were children. I mean, now they were The others glanced at Levy and then back at Lucy, smiling a bit when they saw the blank look on Lucy's face. Natsu leaned forward and sniffed her, noting how she didn't seem to smell _bad_ at all. In fact, she smelt slightly of vanilla, woods, and a slight underlying of sweat, a scent combination Natsu felt could become rather addicting if he kept sniffing her this way, so he backed off, but quickly found himself missing the delightful scent. "A few da-days. Sting, Rogue, me, abo-about to bathe in la-lake tonight-"

"You bathe with boys?" Erza gasped, appalled at the idea, despite the fact that she used to do so with Gray and Natsu when they were children. I mean, now they were older, they no longer did so, but when they were innocent, undeveloped kids, it was different. Lucy nodded, confused as to the wrongness of the situation. "In your human or animal form?"

"Both," Lucy answered calmly, cocking her head to the side as Erza's aura grew slightly dark. The others became slightly worried as to how Erza would react to such an innocent girl bathing with two fully-grown men, but Lucy didn't seem the slightest bit worried. In fact, she only stepped closer to Erza, leaning down to see under the sudden cover of the red-head's bangs and doing something no one else would ever dare to... Lucy POKED Erza's cheek, only to pout when the older girl didn't respond. "He-Hello?" Lucy continue poking Erza's cheek, ignoring her demonic aura as the others began to slowly back away.

"Should we make her stop?" Levy hissed to the boys, all of whom shook their head violently.

It only took a few more moments before Erza began to twitch and Lucy smiled brightly. "You okay! Goo-EEEK!" The blonde cried out in surprise as Erza grabbed Lucy and yanked her and levy by the hand and into the bathroom.

As she threw the two in, shouting orders to get Lucy into the tub, the boys all took awkward positions on the couch, waiting for their orders. Erza shut the door behind her, leaving the boys silent for several minutes before a loud squeal of surprise and shock was heard from behind the door.

As an automatic reaction, Natsu and Gray both raced to the door, throwing it open to see what was happening, only to find themselves frozen in the doorway. Erza glared, Levy paled, and Lucy's naked outline from behind the clouded clear shower doors paid them no mind, not to say that the boys returned to favor.

It was deathly silent for about a minute before Erza's sword was suddenly at their throats. "You idiots!"

Despite the near-death beating they received, neither boy could find it in them to regret the walking in on the nude dimidum…

* * *

**Hope you've enjoyed! Sorry for the long wait, but I'm still having bad leg problems and now there's school drama and just...UGHHHH! I swear if I had ANY magical power, I would leave school, train my but off, and join Fairy Tail like...right now...just saying...**

**PM me if you want! **

**~The Infamous Smiles of Mona Lisa**


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